It is GM’s intention to make the Chevy Volt a very wired and connected high-tech car.
We have already known that charging will be programmable at least from the dash. Driverswill be able to set the car to charge, for example, after midnight to take advantage of lower utility rates. Another powerful set of real-time connected features will stem from OnStar system which is expected to be able to download to the car, among many other things, electricity rates from utility companies. Nissan has previously announced their plan to make an iPod app that drivers could use to turn on or off their car’s charging and get text messages from their car.
GM it turns out has similar plans too.
Brent Dewar was the VP of Chevrolet when he showed a few flashy slides at the LA Auto Show last week while presenting the the Volt and US Cruze, and the Volt’s paint color winner. Yesterday Brent was removed from his position by the axe-weilidng Ed Whitacre just 5 months after taking it from Ed Peper. Dewar will “retire” as of April 1 2010 and is being replaced by Jim Campbell. Anyway, I digress. Dewar had quickly flashed a slide across the screen revealing GM’s intention to develop mobile phone applications for controlling and interacting with the Volt. I captured the image and it is posted above.
GM sources have indicated that there will be applications at least for the iPod and the Blackberry. These will soon be unveiled along with their potential functions. Besides controlling when to charge the car, I could see these applications receiving signals from the car as well, indicating when charging is completed and if the driver forgot to plug it in at some time interval after arriving home. Having forgotten to plug in my MINI E several times, I can assure you this function will be useful.
What functions would you like to see in a Volt mobile phone application? We might just have a chance to influence it.
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